Published Release Notes

Data schema error on z/OS split schema upgrades from versions before Pega 7.1.8

When upgrading to a split schema on Pega 7.x with IBM DB2 for z/OS, you see an error during the data schema upgrade when the system tries to drop the PRPC_Updatescache procedure. Because triggers on rules tables use PRPC_Updatescache, you must use the ZOSDisableTriggerScripts to disable these triggers before you update the data schema.

1. Follow the instructions in the Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide to upgrade the rules schema, but stop immediately before you upgrade the data schema with the upgrade.bat or upgrade.sh script. The Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide is on the Support > Deployment Guides page.
2. Copy the contents of the <distribution>\ResourceKit\ZOSDisableTriggerScripts directory into the <distribution>\scripts\ directory.
3. Run fixZosTriggers.bat or fixZosTriggers.sh with the following arguments:
   --action preupgrade
--dataschema <data schema name>
   --oldrulesschema <old rules schema name. If you are upgrading from a single-schema system, this is the data schema name.>
   --newrulesschema <new rules schema name>
   --automaticddl <Optional. Set to true to automatically apply the disable trigger SQL scripts.>

   For example:
   fixZosTriggers --action preupgrade --dataschema pegadata --oldrulesschema pegarules --newrulesschema newrules --automaticddl false

4. If you did not set --automaticddl to true in the previous step, run the <distribution>\schema/disable.sql script to manually disable the trigger SQL scripts.
5. Run the data schema upgrade as described in the Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide.

Derby databases are no longer supported

Previously, an embedded Derby database could be used as a file system. This setup was configured by setting storage/class/<<filesystem>>/type to "embedded" in the prconfig file.

After upgrading, storage types that are specified as "embedded" now default to the local file system.

Custom database (DB) triggers are dropped during upgrade

The latest version of Pega 7 improves performance by no longer using database triggers to assist with System Pulse and Data-Rule-Summary processing, which is now done within the Pega 7 engine. As a result, DB triggers are no longer installed on either the pr_sys_updatescache or pr4_rule_vw tables.

When upgrading to the latest version of Pega 7, if you had previously implemented a custom database (DB) trigger on these tables, or a custom DB trigger that refers to these tables, it is removed during the upgrade process. No custom triggers are removed unless they reference these tables.

If you have custom DB triggers that reference the pr_sys_updatescache or pr4_rule_vw tables and perform other processing, those triggers must be reimplemented. When doing so, you must be careful to not modify the pr_sys_updatescache or pr4_rule_vw tables.

For more information, see Startup check removes custom DB triggers.

Deprecated rule types

The following rule types have been deprecated as of the Pega 7.1.8 release:

• Form
• Hierarchy
• Service COM
• Service BPEL
• Connect BPEL
• Parse Transform
• Parse Transform Collection
• Parse Infer

For more information, including suggested alternate rule types, see the help topic Deprecated features.

Configuration required for data operations on external schema when using a Postgres database

When you use the API for data operations on external schema in the Postgres database, you must update the prconfig.xml file. No other platform requires a prconfig.xml update.

To update the prconfig.xml file:

1. Stop the server and add the following entry to the prconfig.xml file:
   env name="database/databases/postgres_ext/defaultSchema"
   value="externalschema"
   where postgres_ext is the external database that uses the external schema “externalschema”.
2. Restart the server.

End of support for Netscape Plugin API in Google Chrome 45

Beginning with Chrome 45, which is expected to be available in September 2015, Google is ending support for browser plug-ins that rely on the Netscape Plugin API (NPAPI) architecture. These plug-ins include Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Flash Player, and Java.

The Pega 7 Platform includes several optional features that use these plug-ins. For a detailed overview of these features, see Client-side technologies.

Locatable pages are deprecated

Locatable pages are deprecated. Use a data page instead. Data pages provide improved performance. When you save a rule that has a Locate Page Activity or when you create an activity of type Locate page, a guardrail warning is displayed indicating that this feature has been deprecated.

For information about data pages, see Data pages.

Rules Assembly cache is deprecated

Rules Assembly (RA) cache and custom settings for its corresponding fua/assemblyCacheModeprconfig.xml file setting are deprecated because they are obsolete. A warning is logged at startup if a custom (non-default) value is specified for fua/assemblyCacheMode in the prconfig.xml file. The functional behavior of the system is not affected.

Use of the @java function in expressions is deprecated

Use of the @java function in expressions is deprecated. Use a utility function or other product feature instead.

For more information about expressions, see Building expressions with the Expression Builder.

Interactions in flows are no longer supported by the Run Interaction shape

The Run Interaction shape in flows has been replaced by the Run Data Flow shape, which supports running a single case data flow with a strategy. Flows that include the Run Interaction shape continue to work; however, you must now use the Utility shape to reference any new interactions that you create.

For more information, see Running a decision strategy from a flow and About Interaction rules.